Give me your tired and poor and homeless, and your wretched huddled masses!A gracious invitation to all races and all classes.Lady Liberty declares it, but I fear it’s been amendedAnd a poll says most Americans aren’t very much offended.

Giving us yet one more example of his exquisite sensitivity, President Trump chose Holocaust Memorial Day to announce his temporary ban on visitors from seven Islamic countries – yet one more manifestation of his general rage against foreigners. He was given a hard time by judges (“so-called judges”) and, of course, by satirists. Andy Borowitz, for example, responded to Trump’s firing of Obama’s holdover acting Attorney-General who had challenged the immigration edict as unconstitutional, with the headline: “Trump Fires Attorney-General After Copy of Constitution Found on Her Computer.” And Borowitz broadened his attack with another headline: “Trump Says He Has Been Treated Very Unfairly By People Who Wrote Constitution.” Saturday Night Live, John Oliver, Steven Colbert, and John Stewart all jumped gleefully on the issue. And when Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz criticised the Trump edict, online flatlinegov had a “Trumpist Brownshirt” attack him: “Why don’t they hire Americans…I mean, unemployment is at 328%. Either Starbucks should hire Americans or they should go out of business. Boycott Starbucks!” But this was especially prime material for cartoonists, and Merccury News brought together an impressive array on the subject. Trump was depicted as Noah welcoming whites to the Ark while turning back darker-skinned types; as a “petulant prince” telling Steve Bannon to “ban criticism”, with Bannon responding “I’m working on it”; as a Nazi displaying a button: “In your heart you know he’s REICH”. The Statue of Liberty is a recuurent theme:, she is shown upended alongside a sign saying “Keep America Scared”, and another shows her on a boat returning her to France while Trump waves goodbye.

Posted on Wednesday, February 15, 2017 (Archive on Tuesday, November 12, 2019)